Brussels: Keeping a Transport Map Clear at All Times

While STIB uses several GIS solutions, ArcGIS Pro plays a central role in managing the complexity of metro, tram and bus maps. The challenge of a schematic and dynamic map is simple to state but difficult to achieve: remain as clear and readable as possible.

With its four metro lines, 18 tram lines, 54 bus routes and 11 night bus services, the Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB) manages the daily mobility of nearly one million passengers. As Belgium’s leading urban public transport operator, STIB serves the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region as well as 11 neighbouring municipalities, covering a total area of 241.5 square kilometres.

Unlike networks such as those in London or Paris, Brussels’ network allows passengers to move seamlessly between metro, tram and bus services. This dense, multilingual and highly complex network is brought to life by a single person: Vincent Marion, information cartographer at STIB. Using Esri’s ArcGIS solutions, he designs a schematic and dynamic network map that makes this complexity understandable.

“From the user’s point of view, the network map is something they see on posters or printed plans. But behind it all, there is GIS,” he explains. The paradox is that even in the age of smartphones and route planners based on Google-style basemaps, the map remains an essential communication tool. It is available on STIB’s website and mobile app, and displayed in every station and at every bus or tram stop, around 2,500 locations in total.

“Even though most passengers now use their phones, removing all paper maps would simply not be accepted,” says the cartographer.

Faced with the complexity of the Brussels network, STIB decided as early as 2012–2013 to develop a unified schematic map. “Our goal was to make it as digital as possible using GIS. Today, the map is produced as a PDF for printing, but also as JSON for an online dynamic version.”

Beyond its usefulness during service disruptions, the map provides a clear and readable reference for passengers. “In the event of an incident, roadworks or a strike, I just update a simple ArcGIS table and the map is instantly regenerated to show only the lines that are operating.”

Updates are made directly in the geodatabase, using attribute tables that feed the line and stop layers. A relational database centralises all entities such as lines, stops, interchanges and points of interest, and manages their topological relationships. This database acts as the single authoritative source for all maps published by STIB.

Exports to PDF and JSON are fully automated, with no additional graphic processing required. ArcGIS ensures visual consistency and legend management across all formats.

Esri BeLux supports STIB with technology monitoring, training and GIS tool configuration. The system is built around ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online and a structured data model. ArcGIS Pro manages symbolic styles and cartographic rules that guarantee graphical consistency across the network, including line widths, halos and typography.

“This saves us an enormous amount of time,” explains Vincent Marion. “If a line changes colour, I update it once in the data and all maps are automatically updated.” This approach significantly reduces reliance on Adobe Illustrator and automates production with a clear principle in mind: let the data drive the map, not manual drawing.

The same approach applies to neighbourhood maps, which are generated from Urbis, the reference web map provided by the Brussels Regional Informatics Centre (CIRB/BRIC). ArcGIS Pro uses the Map Series function to automatically create station-area maps, adjusting extent, legends and labels according to the relevant area.

ArcGIS also takes linguistic context into account. The network map is available in French, Dutch and English. “Belgium has a strict and sometimes complex linguistic framework,” Vincent Marion notes with a smile. “In Flemish municipalities where certain lines operate, only Dutch is permitted. In municipalities with language facilities, Dutch must appear first, followed by French. In the Brussels-Capital Region, English is added to documents, but stop names remain bilingual, for example ‘Gare du Midi/Zuidstation’.”

Accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility is another key challenge. “On the dynamic map, we have integrated three levels: not accessible, accessible with assistance, and fully autonomous.” These data, stored in ArcGIS, make it possible to display accessibility levels dynamically and, in the future, to link them to real-time information such as lift breakdowns or construction works by integrating GTFS-RT (General Transit Feed Specification – Real Time) feeds into ArcGIS web services. One remaining complexity is that surface stops are owned by individual municipalities.

Although the dynamic map is available online, printed versions are still widely distributed. “Each year, we print around 100,000 copies, distributed in stations, hotels and sales outlets.” In a city whose urban fabric dates back to the Middle Ages, clarity remains essential. Some signage elements, such as the display of parallel bus lines, still require manual adjustments.

For now, the map used in the mobile app remains a simple drawing overlaid on a geographic base, without full GIS interactivity. Once again, Vincent Marion emphasises the guiding principle behind his work: “the need for clarity, and for information that is as sober, simple and understandable as possible for the passenger.”